Death is only the Beginning
by twizt of fate
Summary: After losing the one person that understood her, Kagome leaves the Feudal Era, trying to escape the pain. But it only follows her back home...
1. Default Chapter

I'm not sure where this one came from. Please be kind and read and review. Thank you!

He was gone.

She finally realized what that meant, and no amount of wishing could change it. She couldn't believe how it had happened. It was all so quick, no one had realized what had happened until it was already too late. By then he was gone without hope of saving him. The memory of that moment would stay with her for an eternity, burned into her mind by the sheer terror she felt when she had looked upon his lifeless body.

"You will die tonight, Naraku. And it will be a painful death, one that will not compare in the slightest to the pain and suffering you have caused though. Which is a damn shame."

Kagome stared at the menacing half-demon that stood acrossed the room from her. His long, ebony hair floated in an invisible wind, eyes glowing blood red from beneath the monsters bangs.

"Do you actually believe you can kill me when none of your comrades could? The demon exterminator lays mortally wounded, the hanyou mutt not far from her with broken limbs. You have no chance." His voice was harsh, chilling the miko to her very bones.

"Now why would you think that?" Miroku stepped out from behind a statue and looked at Naraku, murder glazing his eyes over.

Kagome turned to the houshi and made no change in expression. She was frightened by the look in his eyes, but better that then sorrow.

"Ah, you finally decided to show up. When all the others have been mutilated. Very heroic." Naraku taunted, clapping his hands in mock salute.

Miroku walked up beside Kagome and glared at the demon."Your life ends here." He turned back to where he had stood and nodded his head.

Kikyo stepped out from the shadows and smiled an eery smile at Naraku. "I believe I have something you want." She said, pulling a chain from inside of her yukata. On the end of the chain was the shikon jewel, all of the pieces melded together to form the entire jewel once again.

Naraku growled low in his throat. "How did you get that?"

"I have my ways." The dead miko replied.

Kagome quickly pulled out her bow and arrow as he was distracted. She shot the arrow right throw his chest, creating a large void in the center of it.

Naraku cried out in pain, the sound of it was ear-piercing. Kagome fell to her knees and covered her ears.

With his last ounce of strength, Naraku shot a bolt of energy through Miroku, sending him careening across the room. Naraku then disappeared in a cloud of dust, scattered throughout the room.

Kagome looked up and turned to where Miroku had been standing beside her. She glanced behind her and screamed when she saw the monk's shaking form across the room.

"Miroku!" She yelled, running to him. She collapsed at his side and looked at his wound. There was nothing she could do, the wound went right through his chest, blood errupting uncontrollably from it.

"Oh God. Miroku." Kagome placed a shaking hand on his cheek as tears spilled down her cheeks.

He looked up at her with vacant eyes, and placed a weak hand on hers. Her smiled slightly and was gone. His head lolled to the side and his eyes slid shut.

Kagome screamed in agony, hugging his lifeless form to her chest. She cradled him even when the others roused and saw her. The others were i too much pain to do anything. Kikyo attended to the others and all left the young girl to her misery.

Kagome sat beside the place where Miroku had been buried. She no longer had any tears left, so she sat in silence, thinking of what she had endured, all for a small piece of glass.

She had lost one of the people that she loved dearly. And it ate at her inside. She couldn't deal with all this death and pain anymore. She wanted to go home. She didn't want to deal with Inuyasha and Kikyo. With Sango and her grief for her brother. With the loss of Miroku. It was all too much.

Kagome stood and stared at the patch of disrupted earth. One single, solitary tear slid down her cheek. The last tear that she would shed in a long time. She placed a lily on Miroku's grave and walked down the hill, towards the well. Where she would go home and never return to the Feudal Era again.

This is only the beginning. The will be more to come in explaination of Kagome's extreme distress over Miroku's death. And more information will be given as to the reason behind everything else. Stay tuned...


	2. chapter 2

A few weeks later

Inuyasha sat at the foot of the Goshinboku tree and slept. He had been angry when Kagome had not come back. It had hurt him, more than he cared to admit. So now his dreams were plagued with her.

_He found himself walking alone through the forest, quiet except for the occasional chirp of a bird or a leaf rustling in the wind. He knew she had come this way, he could still smell her tears as though she were standing right in front of him, meaning she was close. When he found her, the scene he came upon was not one he had expected._

_"Kagome, you can not keep torturing yourself like this." _

_Miroku placed a gentle hand on the girl's shoulder. He looked at her with an expression Inuyasha had never seen before. It angered the hanyou._

_"I know. I don't know why I do anymore. I still love him, but I have to move on." Kagome hugged Miroku and sighed quietly._

_Inuyasha growled softly, his blood running cold at the sight before him. She was just going to give up on him like that? And of all the people to turn to for comfort, she chose the perverted monk! Inuyasha was about to turn away when Miroku leaned down and placed a light kiss on Kagome's lips. Inuyasha clenched his fists, his claws making puncture wounds on his palms. The blood dripped down his fingers and landed on the forest floor soundlessly as he watched Kagome put her arms around the monk's neck and kiss him back._

Inuyasha woke with a start, finding that he really had injured his palms. He wiped them off on his yukata and stood. It was hard to mourn for Miroku when he remembered how he had taken the person he cared for most in the world. Not only had he taken her in life, his death had lengthened the distance, both of them lifetimes apart.

Kagome sat in her desk at school, thinking of Miroku. He had saved her from self-destruction, but then left her. She didn't know how she was going to make it through this time. He had brought her back from a place she didn't want to be and with him gone, she was sinking right back in.

She brushed away the tear that slid down her cheek and looked up at the teacher. He was droning on and on about some war in Europe, which was of no interest to her. When he finally stopped talking she raised her hand and asked to go to the office. The teacher nodded, so she gathered her things and left. In the office she signed herself out and left, geting in her car and driving home.

All the way, she kept turning over thoughts in her head. Maybe she needed help, or a vacation at least. But then again, that was just running from her problems. And she was tired of running. So tired.

When she walked in the house, she stifled a scream when she saw Inuyasha sitting on her couch. Fright turned to anger as she slammed the front door shut.

"What are you doing here?" She demanded, setting her bookbag on the floor angrily.

Inuyasha frowned and stood, walking over to her. "Why do you hate me all of a sudden?" He glared at her and grabbed her arm violently. "What did Miroku say that made you hate me?"

Kagome wrenched her arm away and back up into a wall. "He didn't have to say anything! You did it all on your own!" She folded her arms tightly over her chest. "And if you speak ill of him, I swear I will have no qualms about hurting you."

Inuyasha closed the distance between them and stared down at her, challenge in his eyes. "I dare you to try."

She grabbed hold of the hanyous arm and sent a bolt of energy through him. It ran through his veins like fire, causing him to back away from her in surprise.

"I warned you." She said menacingly. She was in no mood to quarrel with the ignorant half-demon.

Inuyasha growled and clenched his fists. "Why did you run off that day? Why did I find you in the forest with Miroku?" He demanded, staring intently at her.

"What are you talking about?" She replied harshly, staying against the wall.

Inuyasha trapped her against the wall by putting a hand on each side of her face. "You and the monk. In the forest. Why did you run to him? Why didn't you tell me what was wrong." He asked quietly, hurt apparent in his voice.

Kagome refused to take pity on the man that had caused her so much pain. She turned her face away, only to have him force it back to him.

"You were the reason I was upset that day. You were with Kikyo again. I couldn't deal with that. And you have no right to demand why I chose Miroku to comfort me. He genuinely cared for me. More than I can say about you."

Anger coursed through him, making his eyes flash between amber and red. He quickly calm himself and glanced at the girl.

"That is where you are wrong. So I was with Kikyo that day, but it was to tell her that I couldn't keep sneaking away to see her, that I didn't want to be with her." He stared into her stormy eyes and raised a hand ot caress her cheek.

Kagome stared at Inuyasha. She didn't know what to say to this. She turned her face away sadly. "Inuyasha, I loved Miroku. And I won't just forget about him because you want me to."

"I'm not asking you to." He lightly pressed his lips to her unresponsive ones. He sighed and stepped away from her. "All I ask is for you to give me a chance. Let me prove that I can be the person you want."

And if the person I want is Miroku? She shook her head sadly and looked at the hanyou. "I'm staying here, Inuyasha. I'm sorry. I have been hurt too many times by you. I won't contiunue to torture myself like I was."

Inuyasha stared at the girl. Those were the words that the monk had said to her in his dream. It angered him how quickly he had received the girl's affections, doing nothing but saying a few kind words.

"How did he get to you? All it took were a few nice words and a hug and you were drawn in." He said with an undertone of revulsion in his voice.

That hit her like a ton of bricks. "What are you trying to say? That I'll run to any man offering a few words and kind touch? You are an ass." She walked away from Inuyasha and sat on the edge of the couch, staring at him with blazing eyes.

"He was the one that comforted me when you ran to her. He was the one to help me when I was injured. He earned my trust. Unlike some people that I had blind faith in." She looked away. "You should leave. I'm in no mood to deal with this."

"Fine, but I won't be coming back." Inuyasha walked out of the room and made his way outside to the well.

Kagome, on the other hand, sat quietly on the couch, tears sliding slowly down her cheeks.


End file.
